Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness among older adults, but new treatment options are now available to protect and restore vision in those suffering from AMD.

The FDA recently granted approval of an implant that delivers ranibizumab, an anti-VEGF medication used to treat wet AMD, for once. This represents a major advance over monthly or bimonthly injections of Lucentis and Eylea.

Anti-VEGF Injections

Macular degeneration treatments typically consist of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections to slow wet AMD by decreasing fluid accumulation in the retina, but these drugs require regular monthly injections and may cause side effects including sterile intraocular inflammation, retinal vasculitis, and post-injection endophthalmitis.

Researchers are actively developing medications to combat these problems by creating injections with improved safety and effectiveness. One such drug is faricimab, which acts as a bispecific antibody targeting both VEGF and its receptor (VEGF-R1) proteins known to promote abnormal blood vessel formation during neovascular AMD.

Studies demonstrate the drug’s effectiveness at relieving subretinal fluid and reducing retinal thickness, leading to improved visual outcomes in patients suffering from neovascular age-related macular degeneration (neoAMD). Additionally, its safety has been well demonstrated through six month of its clinical trial, with no serious adverse events being reported by trial participants.

Studies have demonstrated that ranibizumab can be administered using a port delivery system implanted into the eye during one single procedure. The device features a reservoir which slowly releases medication over time and physicians can refill it without needing to take out or remove the port delivery device.

Sodhi suggests this technology could reduce the frequency and costs associated with injections needed, making treatment more cost-effective for patients. He emphasizes that further randomized trials need to take place before any recommendations on when or if anti-VEGF injections for wet AMD can be stopped can be made; currently the best available therapy is to continue taking anti-VEGF as prescribed; patients who can enter a treatment pause typically exhibit better visual acuity, lower fluid levels in their retina and fewer hemorrhages within macula;

Stem Cell Patches

Scientists have created an eye patch containing stem cells which they can implant into someone’s eye to replace lost cells that cause dry age-related macular degeneration and restore some vision in those living with this condition.

The patch consists of one-cell thick sheets that mimic the natural structure of an eye, made up of stem cells collected from either skin or blood from patients and programmed into retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells which are lost with age-related macular degeneration and then grown within the patch.

Surgical teams were able to successfully implant a stem cell patch into one of their patients during an early clinical trial, part of an effort to develop therapies for macular degeneration which currently lacks an effective cure. While this research could represent a breakthrough for dry AMD treatment, it will not cure it completely.

Researchers have also created a patch designed to prevent heart attacks. It comprises a fibrin scaffold holding bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC). Cardiac magnetic resonance and ex vivo high spatial resolution CMR were employed to track their fate in myocardium; further cytokine and growth factor profiling indicated that they secrete paracrine factors into damaged myocardium.

Recent advances have also been utilized for treating fetal spina bifida. Researchers from McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center used an innovative patch made of umbilical cord tissue gathered from healthy newborns as part of the repair surgery, allowing local tissues to heal without creating scar tissue which typically forms when traditional techniques are used to repair spinal cord injuries.

Embryonic Cells

Embryonic cells are the first cells in our bodies to undergo differentiation into their various specialized cell types, found within a few-day-old blastocyst embryo. Through research, scientists have been able to culture embryonic stem cells in lab settings, leading to many new therapies with potential curative abilities for various conditions.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss among people over 65, may be slowing with one-time gene therapy that targets specific eye genes. AMD affects central vision and can make it hard to see faces, drive or read; its cause lies within blood vessel growth behind the retina at the back of each eye that leak fluid leading to blurred vision and blurring central vision.

Scientists have developed a way of turning adult skin cells into embryonic stem cells and then into specialized eye cells, with the possibility of transplanting them back into retinas suffering from macular degeneration. A small trial in the UK will test this procedure which could restore some lost vision associated with macular degeneration.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are self-replicating cells with the potential to give rise to all of the different cell types found throughout our bodies. Since their first genesis four years ago, much has been learned about the biology and differentiation patterns of these hPSCs; advancements may one day help treat diseases affecting over 128 million Americans by replacing destroyed dopamine-secreting neurons in Parkinson’s patients, transplanting insulin producing pancreatic beta cells into diabetics or repairing damaged cardiac muscle cells in heart attack victims.

Cell Atlas

The international Human Cell Atlas consortium tracks the molecular make-up of healthy tissues across multiple organs and ages. However, until now the technology used to define cell types was limited to single tissues or small subsets. Now however, thanks to Tabula Sapiens researchers can study entire organisms at highest spatial resolution; making an enormous step toward creating comprehensive cell atlases essential for understanding common and rare diseases, vaccine development, regenerative medicine or even bioethics research.

Scientists utilized the Tabula Sapiens dataset to uncover cellular changes associated with mouse aging. Their team studied multiple tissues from mice aged one month to 30 months – which represents human aging – while controlling for genetic background, environmental exposures related to ageing and epigenetic effects. Next they employed machine learning technology to link cells from this atlas with thousands of single gene diseases and complex traits; further highlighting its potential as an approach that could reveal therapeutic solutions that may lie buried beneath these potential targets.

Atlas was used to identify genes associated with macular degeneration. Researchers specifically found risk genes that were correlated to cone cells responsible for color vision as well as retinal vascular cells – suggesting macular degeneration risk could be tied to specific genetic changes that cause blood vessels to form abnormally. Scientists may use this research to develop drugs to slow progression of macular degeneration and improve vision among those affected.

Researchers at the John A. Moran Eye Center are using spatial and single-cell techniques to study which structures in humans’ eyes are most affected by age-related macular degeneration, and have identified one gene which appears to trigger harmful growth of blood vessels – one key aspect in both dry and wet macular degeneration development.

SREDs

Researchers have developed a technique enabling them to grow photoreceptor progenitor cells that resemble embryonic cells and transplant these into retinas in order to restore retinal function and potentially treat age-related macular degeneration blinding diseases.

Age-related macular degeneration affects an estimated 11 million Americans, causing blurring central vision that makes reading, driving and performing other tasks that require sharp, straight-ahead vision difficult. It occurs due to damage done by age on the macula in the center of retina (which contains light-sensitive tissue at the back of eye). Wet age-related macular degeneration develops around 10% of time and leads to rapid vision loss due to abnormal blood vessels growing between layers of retina; this form is known as Neovascular AMD.

Wet age-related macular degeneration can be treated successfully using intraocular injections of Avastin, Lucentis or Eylea medications that block proteins that promote new blood vessel and scar tissue formation under the retina. These groundbreaking therapies have revolutionized treatment of wet AMD, saving sight for thousands of patients who would have otherwise become legal blind without them. For advanced cases with wet macular degeneration a miniature telescope implant may also provide relief.